A few years ago when he was in South Africa to visit his family, we met up. And he gave me some great advice I still carry today. The advice was, if you have actively been executing ideas for years, YOU NEED A BREAK AT SOME POINT. Or you will break and burn.

“Whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur, or just thinking about going out on your own, this small book is jam packed with tips and tricks and useful strategies to keep you sane and healthy while making a success of your business idea.

This is not a business advice handbook or pocket MBA. It is designed to help anyone who works for themselves or owns their own business, deal with the very real emotional and psychological challenges that come with being a self-starter in a business world dominated by huge corporates.”

If you believe you suffer from anxiety, depression and are having suicidal thoughts, I humbly request that you get help from a trained professional. These are serious conditions you need to attend urgently.

So below follows places to find such help:

SOUTH AFRICA

The organisations below have support groups and/or programmes in various parts of the country. Find out if they do not have support closer to your area.

Better Help

I have always been entrepreneurial. On two separate occasions as a kid I had vegetable gardens. On each, my grandmother, and later her daughter (my mother), gave away almost all my produce and thus succeeded in liquidating my intended businesses. I guess my mother got it from her mother – my grandmother gave it to her daughter.

Among the other things I aspired to be was Jean Claude Van Damme. I didn’t want to be Chuck Norris because he had bushy chest hair. I am 30 today, with medium chest hair. It is even turning white.

How my story should be is: he grew up poor, went to university; he then ventured into business, struggled for a bit of time and then became very successful. “He

[Sir] Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones is 73, has a 6 months old son – Deveraux – apparently conceived on tour, with a 29 year old girlfriend. He is still making music and doing other creative stuff.

Yeah, The Rolling Stones make hundreds of millions touring.

One thing I do not want to be is old and broke or poor. It saddens me when I see old people without any or much financial muscle to buy stuff – either alcohol, clothes, food, helping out their children and/or grandchildren. Their strength and mind renders them unfavourable to job – although not all.

Entrepreneurship is a nerve wracking business. Entrepreneurs are always anxious about multiple things. They have goals and therefore expectations, but it is known that things cannot go according to one’s wishes, plans, desires, needs or desperation all the time.

Expectations are rarely met and subconsciously, when they aren’t, we are shaken. It is an opportune window for anxiety or even depression to set in, depending on the severity or extent of the misfortune.

It was at about 3:35 pm. I felt I was about to faint or have a panic attack. The day was not going well. Over and above, I was overly tired.

It had been weeks since I had any ‘win’. Therefore I needed to hustle people on the phone even if it was 4:00 pm. I was desperate. For goodness’ sake, that time is around knock off time. A business pitch is the last thing they would want to hear.

An earlier rejection email had heightened the panic. All these triggered my mind to think I have no hope: immediately, I time travelled to the past and the future. I saw no advantage of what my past has brought to today and I saw no light in my future.

Anxiety invades our productivity and therefore our goals. All it takes is to not see progress in a day, then a week or a month. The next thing you know, you are standing at the peak of the highest anxiety hill, depressingly recalling your record of failures and doubting your future.

This book goes through what to do to counter such episodes – and below are things you can do now:

It was at about 3:35 pm. I felt I was about to faint or have a panic attack. The day was not going well. Over and above, I was overly tired.

It had been weeks since I had any ‘win’. Therefore I needed to hustle people on the phone even if it was 4:00 pm. I was desperate. For goodness’ sake, that time is around knock off time. A business pitch is the last thing they would want to hear.

A rejection email had heightened the panic. All these triggered my mind to think I have no hope: immediately, I time travelled in the past and the future. I saw no advantage of what my past has brought to today and I saw no light in my future.